With today’s digital film cameras, a lot of data is produced and recorded on set. Most of the time the actual image and sound data is accompanied by various kinds of metadata. Some of this metadata is broadly available, such as the running time code overlaid in video monitors. Other metadata is not presented so prominently – especially when the benefits of carrying this information further on are less obvious on set.

In the first of a series of articles that look at job roles and their relationship with technology, Alana Foster speaks with three digital imaging technicians whose credits include Black Mirror, Skyfall and McMafia.

Digital imaging technicians (DIT) work across film, TV and commercials and are responsible for the handling of content and image quality control from creation throughout its lifecycle on and off set. The growth in use of digital camera resulted in the creation and progression of the DIT position, with the role evolving from on-set engineering to technical workflows and colour correction and oversight of the production workflow.

ARRI announced the Alexa LF, a new camera with a large-format image sensor that can capture imagery at about 4.5K in open-gate mode, or at UHD resolution when shooting 16:9.

ARRI said the new sensor is really just a bigger version of the existing Alexa sensor, upscaled to 36.70×25.54mm, which is slightly larger than full frame. In Open Gate mode, the Alexa LF captures at a native resolution of 4448×3096. A 16:9 mode is tailor-made for capturing UHD footage at 3840×2160 (using a 31.68×17.82mm cut-out of the sensor) as well as downscaled ProRes 2K (2048×1152) or ProRes HD (1920×1080), while a 2.39:1 mode captures footage at 4448×1856 in the wider ‘scope aspect ratio.

NAB Show is the annual trade show produced by the National Association of Broadcasters. Also know as the world’s largest media and entertainment event. It takes place at Las Vegas Convention Center in Las Vegas, Nevada.